Variety is the spice of life, or so they say, but it may also be the reason you aren't getting the results you want.

Everybody likes variety especially when it comes to food, a new flavour to get your taste buds tingling, but this is one of the main reasons people overeat. The first few mouthfuls of any food are always the best, that is why we can always make room for dessert even after a large meal, but it is not just sweet things we can overeat on. If you go to a buffet with a large selection of savoury foods there is a good chance you will eat more than you need, because you want to taste all the nice food, even if it is just a few mouthfuls.

I love mixed grills and some restaurants offer some huge mixed grills, served on great big platters, but I have never failed to finish one. All the different flavours from the beef, lamb, sausage, chicken, egg and if I'm lucky black pudding keep me going back until my plate is clean. Obviously these are not bad foods to be eating, but 2000 calories in one sitting will be more than I need (depending on what else I have eaten that day). If you gave me the equivalent calories in scrambled egg, another food I love, I wouldn't eat nearly as much, because I would stop when I was full, there wouldn't be any new flavour to tempt my taste buds and keep me coming back for more.

If you only ate chicken liver, sardines, eggs, sunflower seeds and kale I guarantee you would lose fat, and a decent amount of it. These 5 foods provide all the essential fats, proteins, vitamins and minerals you need, so you would be perfectly healthy eating just these foods (I'd love to take credit for working this out, but unfortunately I can't. It was a clever lady called Zoe Harcombe who did the work).

Lose lots of fat, be perfectly healthy. What's stopping you?

Boredom! After 4 weeks if you're a resilient person, but more than likely less than 2, you will be bored to death of those 5 foods and you wont be able to stick to it. However you could use a certain lack of variety to your advantage and still be able to stick to it.

Keeping things simple and a little bit boring for a few weeks could really help kick start your weight loss or get you through a plateau. If your plate just has one meat and two veg, no sauces or anything fancy, for one it is easy to monitor how much you are eating and for two the lack of new tastes will help you to stop when you are full. Have the same meal for lunch and tea each day, for a few weeks. You can eat as much as you like, but only those foods. Have variety throughout the week to make sure you are getting everything you need, but during the course of one day only eat the same 4 or 5 foods.

Wednesday: Lunch - Homemade burgers with kale, Tea - Homemade burgers with fried mushrooms and tinned tomatoesRemember it is not just calories that count, the balance of calories is just as, if not more important. We discussed that a few week ago here, but this is a sure fire way to stop you overeating.